Four people detained after dozens of Sittwe squatters’ huts demolished by local authorities

By DMG 26 Apr 2021

DMG Newsroom
26 April 2021, Sittwe

Police arrested two women and two men living near an area known for its squatter population in the Arakan State capital Sittwe after their huts were destroyed, family members said.

Police and local authorities on April 21 tore down several squatter huts erected on vacant land in Sittwe’s Bumay ward.

Daw Than Nu, 32, Daw Ma Hla Thein, 60, and U Thar Pan Khaing, 73, were arrested on April 24 at about 10 p.m., and U Kay Thar Tun, 60, was arrested the following morning.

“We were told that they arrested her to interrogate, and would release her in the morning,” said U Zaw Min Tun, the husband of Daw Than Nu. “They discharged a firearm one time during the arrest.”

Daw Than Nu’s son, less than 2 years old, was also taken when Daw Than Nu was arrested.

Ma Khin Zaw Win, the daughter of U Thar Pan Khaing, said: “My father’s health is not good. We do not have anywhere to live now. And we have nothing to eat either. I want my father to be released as soon as possible.”

DMG phoned authorities at Sittwe Myoma police station, where the four people have been detained, to enquire about the circumstances surrounding their arrest, and a police officer there said they were detained for questioning.

“We will release them when they are granted bail. We detained them because we have something to interrogate them about,” the officer said.

Local authorities demolished more than 100 makeshift shelters of squatters who had been living on the vacant land located beside a railway in Bumay ward, leaving about 300 people homeless. Some of the squatters are internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled their homes during clashes between the military and Arakan Army in Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships over recent years.

U Aung Zaw Oo, the Sittwe Township administrator, said the land is reserved for buildings for government departments and social organisations.

Local authorities said they told squatters to vacate the land in early 2021, but the squatters said their huts were destroyed without notifying them in advance.